“The goal here is for us to think about how the cumulative impact data can help change policy and operations across city departments,” said Angela Tovar, Chicago’s chief sustainability officer.

For the first time in eight years, there’s a rockhopper penguin chick at the Shedd Aquarium.

Heat preparedness has generally improved over the years. Chicago, for example, has expanded its emergency text and email notification system and identified its most vulnerable residents for outreach.

The entire city was drenched with torrential rain earlier this week, but residents on the West Side were hit especially hard as more than 8 inches of rain fell in the Austin community and nearby suburbs.

Earth’s average temperature set a new unofficial record high Thursday, the third such milestone in a week that prominent scientist says could be the hottest in 120,000 years. But it’s also a record with some legitimate scientific questions and caveats.

As much as 8 inches fell in certain areas over the weekend, followed by major flooding. Areas on the city’s West Side and western suburbs saw over 8 inches on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

June is expected to go down as one of the 10 driest months in the state’s history. Farmers are already seeing an impact on their crops and consumers are likely to see an impact soon.

Cities across the U.S. from Medford, Oregon to Tampa, Florida have been hovering at all-time highs, said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Beijing reported nine straight days last week when the temperature exceeded 95 F.

Already wildfires are consuming three times more of the United States and Canada each year than in the 1980s, and studies predict fire and smoke to worsen.

Erik Varela of the Illinois International Port District said the port brings in steel, iron, concrete and sand. “If the port were to go away or not be invested in, you have to imagine that those commodities are going to go elsewhere, those jobs and those things will go there.”

Experts say the drought in the central U.S. is the worst since at least 2012, and in some areas, is drawing comparisons to the 1988 drought that devastated corn, wheat and soybean crops.

According to data from the Illinois EPA, Chicago’s Air Quality Index was at a 185 as of Thursday morning, placing it in the “unhealthy” range. That means older adults, people with heart or lung disease and children and teens should avoid strenuous outdoor activities.

Right now, coal combustion residuals – commonly known as coal ash – aren’t subject to EPA regulation at many offline power plants. 

Air quality hit unhealthy levels, with the Department of Public Health encouraging people to limit their time outdoors and avoid strenuous activities.

The coyote’s new home is 10 times larger than his old one, but animal rights activists still want Rocky transferred to an animal sanctuary.

Thousands of bees settled in Daley Plaza this week, but the prize for craziest infestation goes to tiny Elko, Nev., which has been overrun by millions of crickets.